Monday, February 13

More tactics.

That George Dubya Bush: sneakier than a sneaking sneak. I mean, just look at this:

A courtroom battle seen as a test case for the teaching of science in America ended in a decisive victory for evolution yesterday when a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled that it was unconstitutional to teach "intelligent design" in biology class.

....

Judge Jones's verdict was ambitious in scope, dealing not only with the actions of the Dover school district but also with the very notion of "intelligent design", an idea which surfaced 15 years ago following the failure of earlier efforts to introduce traditional biblical creationism in public schools.

Anticipating that his decision would come under attack from the religious right, the judge, who was appointed by President George Bush ...

Cough, sputter.

... was careful to state that he was not an activist judge, but dealing with proceedings provoked by the actions of the school district. The judge wrote that "intelligent design" was a religious notion that advances Christianity, and so was in violation of constitutional provisions against the establishment of religion.

Now, this is seriously sneaky. As any fule no, the Republicans are waging a War on Science, with Dubya at the helm. To further advance this war, he has appointed a federal judge who is thoroughly committed to the Constitutional ideal of keeping religious teaching out of American schools and has no time for those who attempt to disguise religious theories as scientific ones. Talk about outflanking your enemies. This must be why the Democrats have been doing everything they can to keep his appointees off the bench.

Judge Jones plays his part well. Just look at the things this guy's written:

"We find that the secular purposes claimed by the board amount to pretext for the board's real purpose, which was to promote religion in the public school classroom," Judge Jones wrote. ... "The overwhelming evidence at trial established that ID is a religious view, a mere relabelling of creationism, and not a scientific theory," he wrote. ... Judge Jones was categorical that "intelligent design" was not science, and that its attacks on evolution should not be admitted into the classroom. "This tactic is at best disingenuous and at worst a canard. The goal of the [movement] is not to encourage critical thought but to foment a revolution which would supplant evolutionary theory with ID."